My Struggle, My Story

In the woods, Uzumaki Kushina slowly lowered her hands. The barrier around them vanished, and she slowly walked out.

"Looks like quite a few people have their eyes on our Kushina."

"Sister Tsunade."

Faced with Tsunade's teasing, Uzumaki Kushina blushed shyly. Though she was usually bold and carefree, this felt like a blind date.

Even with her personality, she could not help feeling a little embarrassed the first time.

Tsunade crossed her arms and said proudly,

"Kushina, don't worry. You can make this decision yourself."

"You saw it just now. That blond brat you mentioned may really have a crush on you. And that Uchiha brat is definitely after your looks too."

Seeing that Tsunade was willing to protect her, Uzumaki Kushina felt warmth in her heart and smiled gratefully.

"Thank you, Sister Tsunade, but those two..."

Thinking of Minato Namikaze and Uchiha Yoru, Uzumaki Kushina felt lost. She tugged at her red hair, lowered her head, and said hoarsely,

"What Classmate Minato said might be true, but he only made up his mind because of the mission and the village. As for Uchiha Yoru..."

When she mentioned Uchiha Yoru, Uzumaki Kushina guiltily told Tsunade about the agreement between herself and Mikoto.

"So that brat originally just wanted to put on an act with you!?"

Tsunade looked amused. She had known about this for a long time, but she still could not resist teasing the flushed Kushina.

But compared like this, Uchiha Yoru seemed to have won by a little. One had a secret crush and acted for the village; the other had come to put on an act for a mission.

The difference was obvious.

"Still, that Uchiha brat—or rather, beneath that proud Uchiha face, he has even stronger feelings."

Perhaps afraid that Uzumaki Kushina would misunderstand Uchiha Yoru, since she had acknowledged the brat by now, Tsunade smiled and shook her head.

"Jiraiya gave Minato a book, so I'll give you one too. You probably never would have guessed that this book was written by that brat. Of course, there are also plenty of childish fantasies about the future in it."

Tsunade took a red-covered book from her ninja tool pouch. She had only learned about this book while secretly investigating Uchiha Yoru.

After all, shinobi relied on intelligence. (Before they started piloting Gundams.)

This book also sold fairly well among shinobi. The entire thing revolved around Bonds. After all, no one understood this twisted world better than he did.

"A book written by Uchiha Yoru?"

Uzumaki Kushina looked stunned. She had never known. But when she saw the four words My Struggle on the red cover, she nodded and accepted it.

"That's right. On the front lines later, Uchiha Yoru's Chakra nature will be highly compatible with yours. The pride in an Uchiha's bones may put people off, but after reading this book, you'll have a general understanding of the Uchiha temperament."

Tsunade smiled and shook her head. This brat's childish novel—wasn't Uchiha pride just as childish?

In the woods, a bird flew overhead. As Uchiha Yoru walked alongside Jiraiya, the corners of his mouth slowly curled into a smile.

He was not a Sensory Ninja, but he possessed the ability to communicate with animals. This was one of the abilities of the Sage Body. (According to official materials, Jugo possessed the ability to communicate with animals.)

He had noticed someone hiding nearby through the birds long ago.

Just now, in the woods, both Jiraiya and Tsunade had known there was another person hiding nearby: Uzumaki Kushina.

In Tsunade and Jiraiya's eyes, Minato Namikaze and Uchiha Yoru would not have noticed Kushina.

"Lord Jiraiya, I've always been reading your Grit Ninja Chronicle. I really like the protagonist Naruto's tenacious personality. This is a book I wrote, and I hope to receive Lord Jiraiya's approval."

"Likewise, I think Classmate Minato is even more suited to this book of mine."

As he left with Jiraiya, he remembered the book Jiraiya had just given Minato and immediately smiled. He would not let such a good opportunity pass by.

Uchiha Yoru respectfully took a red-covered book from his ninja tool pouch.

When Jiraiya saw the book, he could not help looking shocked.

"Brat! You wrote this book!?"

The red-covered My Struggle was selling no worse than his own books right now. More importantly, he had read it too.

"You actually came up with such a great idea!"

Faced with Jiraiya's shock, Uchiha Yoru gave a shy smile.

"No, I didn't come up with it. I was simply writing about my own life. Of course, I sometimes added some fantasies. I also adapted certain missions in the book, since some shinobi missions are confidential."

Uchiha Yoru smiled as he explained to Jiraiya why he had been able to write this book.

My Struggle had only published three installments so far.

The first was My Family. The second was At the Ninja Academy. The third was What I Saw on the Ninja Battlefield.

Beneath Uchiha Yoru's shy smile lay a wild ambition.

No one understood better than him what this twisted Shinobi World needed most!

It was Bonds! Companions!

Not some damn love story. Even Jiraiya's future erotic Make-Out Paradise would only be a bit of mental seasoning.

His first three installments had entirely revolved around Bonds and companions. For this twisted world, this book was an addictive poison.

Even in those first three installments, after much consideration, he had not inserted any ideology. He had simply written the protagonist as someone with pride and a tsundere nature deep in his bones—the Uchiha temperament—making the character perfectly match himself.

It was precisely that pride which, once it received recognition, would become unstoppable. This contradictory, conflicted personality made more shinobi feel that it was real and impossible to put down.

Likewise, this book was completely positive right now. Ahem, of course, it would remain positive in the future!

It was just that his dream, called the ninja way—his ambition—would gradually emerge.

"Brat, you..."

Jiraiya was no fool and naturally understood what Uchiha Yoru was thinking.

Uchiha Yoru merely gave a shy smile.

"Lord Jiraiya, compared to that, what Classmate Minato needs is not perseverance, but recognition from his companions."

He was clearly reminding Jiraiya in an indirect way that Minato Namikaze's interest in Kushina was obviously driven more by her status and influence than her beauty.

Don't make it sound so nice and call it sincerity, as if no one else was sincere.

Beauty, status and influence, strength—which one of those was not sincere?

It was true that Minato had a crush on Kushina, but what made him finally resolve himself was merely her status and influence.

Unlike him, who had never concealed that what stirred his heart was her captivating beauty.

"You brat."

At that moment, Jiraiya smiled helplessly. Thinking about it, Minato really did seem to lack true companions.

At least Jiraiya had Orochimaru and Tsunade. But what about Minato?

Minato's two teammates clearly could not keep up with him. Though Minato did not lack the resolve to protect his companions, that was only born from the responsibility of a Konoha Shinobi and the inheritance of the Will of Fire.

Geniuses were lonely. Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade were fortunate.

"Then I'll have to properly thank you on Minato's behalf."

With Jiraiya's hearty laughter, the brat before him no longer seemed quite so unpleasant.

Uchiha Yoru smiled as well. No one could understand how satisfied he felt inside right now.

Telling Jiraiya that the future Fourth Hokage lacked recognition from his companions felt damn good!

"Brat, this sage thinks very highly of you."

Anyone who could write a book like that absolutely had tremendous recognition for companions. Jiraiya smiled.

Especially with the Uchiha temperament, it really was true when he thought about it. Few people could enter the hearts of proud Uchiha, but once they did, the Uchiha would go on a crazy killing spree for them!

Ahem!

Thinking of that, Jiraiya's expression turned strange. He remembered certain unpleasant things. On the battlefield, there were often Uchiha who went berserk, fearlessly slaughtering without regard for their lives. It seemed they had all been doing it for their companions.

Likewise, Uzumaki Kushina, holding the red-covered My Struggle, revealed a smile.

A tsundere Uchiha claiming it was for her beauty—wasn't that also a way of hiding the pride in his heart?

It was clearly a Clan mission, for the sake of the clan, yet he insisted on calling it about beauty.

"Is fiery red hair really that pretty?"

Uzumaki Kushina muttered to herself. She lowered her head to look at her red hair, then happened to see the book's red cover and smiled.

Uchiha were skilled in Fire Release, and this book had a red cover. It was easy to see that Uchiha Yoru truly liked red.

If Uchiha Yoru knew what Kushina was thinking right now, he would only stare in surprise before nodding. That's right! Exactly what you think.

Ahem, the point came a little late, but Koi considered it again and again before deciding on it. After all, once the protagonist's strength and influence reached a certain level, if he really came up with some ideology, he would be completely unable to protect himself.

The author will try to keep things logical, laying the groundwork bit by bit and slowly developing the Will of Fire—virtue—ahem, never mind. Keep reading, and please support the story, brothers.

Tomorrow is Tuesday, so please keep reading! Please keep reading tomorrow! Please keep reading!